Mendelssohn: The Complete String Quartets / Emerson String Quartet

Emerson String Quartet, Felix Mendelssohn - Mendelssohn: The Complete String Quartets / Emerson String Quartet

Mendelssohn: The Complete String Quartets / Emerson String Quartet
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Music CD Cover

Artist: Emerson String Quartet, Felix Mendelssohn
Edition: Music CD
Format: Enhanced
CD Release Date: 2005-01-11
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. I. Adagio - Allegro Vivace
  2. II. Adagio Non Lento
  3. III. Intermezzo: Allegretto Con Moto
  4. IV. Presto
  5. A Tempo Ordinario
  6. I. Adaigo Non Troppo - Allegro Non Tardante
  7. II. Canzonetta: Allegretto
  8. III. Andante Espressivo
  9. IV. Molto Allegro E Vivace
Music CD 2
  1. I. Allegro Assai Appassionato
  2. II. Scherzo: Allegro Di Molto
  3. III. Andante
  4. IV. Presto Agitato
  5. I. Allegro Vivace
  6. II. Scherzo: Assai Leggiero Vivace
  7. III. Adagio Non Troppo
  8. IV. Molto Allegro Con Fuoco
Music CD 3
  1. I. Molto Allegro Vivace
  2. II. Menuetto: Un Poco Allegretto
  3. III. Andante Espressivo Ma Con Moto
  4. IV. Presto Con Brio
  5. Andante con Moto - Allegro Fugato, Assai Vivace
  6. I. Allegro Vivace Assai
  7. II. Allegro Assai
  8. III. Adagio
  9. IV. Finale: Allegro Molto
  10. Andante Sostenuto
  11. Allegro Leggiero
Music CD 4
  1. I. Allegro Moderato, Ma Con Fuoco
  2. II. Andante
  3. III. Scherzo: Allegro Leggierissimo
  4. IV. Presto
  5. I. Allegro Moderato
  6. II. Adagio Non Troppo
  7. III. Minuetto
  8. IV. Fuga

Free Music Notes for Mendelssohn: The Complete String Quartets / Emerson String Quartet

Free Music Review: LIKE WATER FROM A PUBLIC FOUNTAIN
Hit: 5 Stars

That was Wagner's dismissive description of the music of Mendelssohn. In the later 19th century there was a critical reaction against both of the great Germans who had dominated English music for a century and a half overall, Handel and Mendelssohn. As is usual with such debunking, much of it was trivial and petulant. However Handel has recovered strongly over the last 50 years and by now is probably almost as familiar as Bach is, whereas Mendelssohn has not. The popular favourites among his compositions have never ceased to be that, but opportunities to hear most of his chamber music and songs are still rare. I am myself in the happy position of having attended two years ago a festival dedicated to those sides of his output, and consequently I know the works on this distinguished set fairly well.

The performers are the Emerson Quartet, and the quality of their work is well known. In every imaginable respect it is superlatively good. Technically these accounts are flawless, and in terms of comprehension of the music and insight into the spirit of the composer I prefer to learn from them rather than to pass otiose comment. There are 7 complete quartets here, plus 5 isolated movements. Being moderately familiar with the music I would advise newcomers that the approach taken throughout is `normal' in the best sense and free from idiosyncrasies - if you are looking for `model' performances of these works this would be where to look. Mendelssohn's tempo markings, unlike those of greater composers such as Beethoven Schubert and Brahms, are almost invariably clear and unambiguous. In the one case where a bit of interpretation is called for, the central two movements of the D major quartet op44/1, I am convinced and delighted by the solution adopted. The Emersons take the minuet slowly and the following `andante con moto' at a very flowing pace, almost like an andante in Handel, so that the minuet seems like the slow movement and the andante like an intermezzo in moderate tempo.

I love Mendelssohn and I love these quartets. However I can't get it out of my mind that Wagner had a bit of a point. Shaw complains of Mendelssohn's `kid-glove gentility' and he is uncomfortably near the bone. Mendelssohn is truly unique, and what he does best he does better than anybody. At the age of 16 or 17 he turned out the octet, the rondo capriccioso for piano and the Midsummer Night's Dream overture, all of them truly astounding. However by age 20 he was only one precocious prodigy among a larger number who had caught up by then and went on to surpass him. There is a definite sense of development as between the quartet he wrote at age 14 (contemporary with the string symphonies, which I commend strongly to those unfamiliar with them) where the unmistakable personal idiom has not yet quite emerged and the op12/13 quartets and then the op44's and later in which it has. However it's development within a narrow range of expression, and his early death means we can never know whether he had it in him to raise his game drastically, as Wagner and Verdi so spectacularly did when older than Mendelssohn lived to be.

The Emersons have also taken it into their heads to record the octet played by themselves only. People with their amount of talent must be tempted to such brilliant but completely dotty schemes at times. There is an enthusiastic contribution to the liner-note by Eugene Drucker, and the disc will run on a pc to show the process of recording. I can confirm that it actually does this, but I have no sound-card nor any wish for one, so all I can attest is the visual aspect, and only a little of that. I must also warn that I had difficulty in getting the exit-button to obey me. As a performance it is really very good, with the finale fully up to speed as I like it, and I would never have known what nonsense they were getting up to. However something goes wrong with the recording, which is very bottom-heavy in the first movement in particular.

Otherwise the recording is excellent. The main liner-note is fine if a little lengthy. When I began to think it didn't really say a lot, that brought me back to the question - how much, really, is there to say?
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